Temptation In The Garden
by Myriddin
Summary: Princess x Elise. Set pre-Fable III. Rosalie knows her future is already mapped out for her, but sometimes temptation was too much to resist, especially when it went by the name of Elise. ONESHOT.


**Temptation In The Garden  
**By Myriddin

_Princess x Elise. Set pre-Fable III. Rosalie knows her future is already mapped out for her, but sometimes temptation was too much to resist, especially when it went by the name of Elise. _

Sixteen-year-old Rosalie sat reading one afternoon in an isolated corner of the royal gardens, shaded beneath an over-looming willow. She was garbed in hand-me-downs from her brother, a light shirt and loose trousers, barefoot in the summer heat. So immersed in her concentration, she did not feel the approaching presence until there was the light pressure of a hand on her shoulder, the brush of warm breath tickling against her ear.

"It's improper of me to interrupt a lady in such serious contemplation, but you seem far too serious."

The princess lowered her book, turning her head. Elise had always been pretty, something Rosalie noticed even as children, but at eighteen, the older girl grown into a slender beauty that always made Rosalie feel self-conscious about the changes to her own body, a curvaceous figure and a heavy bosom that seemed to have developed out of nowhere.

As always, the sight of her childhood friend, rarer these days as duties took away time together, caused her breath to hitch and her throat to tighten. She swallowed reflexively, forcing herself to raise her gaze to meet playful green eyes.

"You seem surprised to see me, Your Highness."

Rosalie arched an eyebrow at the title, not used in private between them in years. "As I recall, you are the one who refused to set foot on castle grounds after telling my brother you thought him a sallow-faced arse."

Elise grimaced at the mention of her indiscretion months before, when both young women had snuck wine from a feast and indulged until they were giggling messes. It was when Logan had come to his sister's bedchamber to say goodnight that Elise had delivered the fateful, drunken insult, gracefully ignored by Logan. Though he did have Elise punished, roused early from bed and forced to sit and take notes during that morning's court despite her obvious hung-over exhaustion.

Elise huffed and gracefully took a seat beside the princess, smoothing down her skirts. "Some things change. Mayhaps I wanted to see you badly enough to take the risk. Your Ladyship would never cause me to come to harm here."

Rosalie smiled, drawing her knees to her chest. "You shouldn't say such things. If I ever end up betraying that trust, I could never bear to hurt you."

Elise reached for her hand and Rosalie accepted the touch as their fingers entwined. "We've both always known that there will come a time when I no longer have a place in your life, not in such a way as I have now. To do your duty could never be a betrayal."

"But if I have to turn from you…"

Elise softly sighed, placing two fingers to Rosalie's lips to effectively stop her speech. "Enough, Rosie. We'll deal with what we are dealt when the time comes." Her voice was soft and cajoling, her eyes warm with affection. There was something alluring, mesmerizing about her voice that kept Rosalie from drawing back, unable to look away even if she wanted to. Something of the intensity she was feeling must have shown on her face, because Elise abruptly jerked back, a light blush staining her cheeks as she averted her eyes.

"You shouldn't look at me in such a way," she said softly, glancing up at Rosalie with an unreadable expression.

"I cannot help myself. I know I should not, but I cannot stop." She reached out to again take Elise's hand, but when Elise flinched away, Rosalie drew back, stung.

Elise looked momentarily penitent, but then her expression hardened. "My father has been parading me around like a prize peacock, and despite the way they try to hide it behind their gold and their courtesies, their eyes are always the same. Lusting and greedy. What makes the way you look at me any different?"

"I…I didn't…I don't know how I'm different, Elise, except that I care for you. In all the ways that I can, and all the ways that I cannot."

"You're right. You shouldn't. I shouldn't." Sliding her hands up Rosalie's thighs to keep her balance, Elise leaned forward until she was close enough for Rosalie to feel the heat radiating from her body. Rosalie's body involuntarily trembled and Elise breathed her name, "Rose…"

She was so very close, as Rosalie clenched her fists at her sides to keep from touching the girl before her. "Darling," Elise's endearment was tender, something Rosalie had not heard from her in ages, "If I asked you to make love to me, Rosie, here and now, what would you do?"

"Dear Avo," Rosalie breathed, closing her eyes in disbelief, "I thought you said we would never revisit such a thing."

Elise sighed. "I misspoke before. I was cruel, and I apologize." She cupped Rosalie's chin, tilting her face toward her and coaxing the princess to open her eyes. When she did, Rosalie's eyes were wide and incredulous, searching Elise's for an answer. Elise stroked her cheek in reassurance. "I never could compare you to any other, Rosalie, and I was naïve to think I could sum up everything between us as childish fumbling. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Rosalie replied, leaning into the caresses.

Elise smiled fondly, pressing a kiss to the corner of Rosalie's mouth. "Forgiving as always. You haven't answered my answer, sweet."

Rosalie took in a shuddering breath. "Elise, I would not hesitate for a moment."

Elise hummed with pleasure against warm, tentative lips as Rosalie kissed her, Rosalie's confidence growing as she explored a mouth sweet as ambrosia and tempting as the forbidden fruit itself. Elise's body was soft and pliable against her, melting into her arms as they curved around Elise's lithe waist, bringing her closer.

They separated only when the need for breath became too great. Rosalie exhaled softly, not daring to open his eyes as deft fingers threaded through her hair to pull her into another kiss. Her arms tightened around Elise, her hands growing restless, stroking Elise's back in slow, intimate caresses. Desire raged through her in a sudden storm of longing, tantalizing her to the point of desperation, and as they broke apart again, Rosalie whispered, "You did not ask me, Elise."

"What will become of us if I do, Rose?"

"Honestly, I'm not certain. All I know is what I feel for you, Lis, and what I want."

"What do you want?"

"I want to love you." She kissed Elise again, allowing her lips to linger for just a moment before descending in a trail of soft kisses down Elise's jaw and neckline. Elise responded with a breathless gasp, her hands working up at the buttons of Rosalie's shirt in a quest for bare skin. Rosalie moaned with approval as she worked her arms free of the garment, shrugging it off onto the ground.

They pressed close, bodies molding together. Elise gazed at her, brushing the hair from Rosalie's dark eyes, tracing her fingers along the aristocratic features of her face. "Love me, Rosalie. Please?"

Rosalie did not hesitate, her hands beginning to stroke and caress. Locked in a lover's embrace, they pressed back against the ground, the soft earth and the fragrant grasses of the garden floor cushioning their fall. Their world faded to the touch of mouth and skin, passion overwhelming every sense but that of each other.

Elise's arms twined around the princess's neck as she accepted Rosalie's kiss, a soft, gentle contact that served as a languorous stirring of their passions. "Lis…" Rosalie breathed, nuzzling against her lover's throat before brushing back brown hair to bare Elise's neck as her mouth descended in a trail of hot, openmouthed kisses. "Elise, tell me what you want. Anything I can give you, tell me what you want."

Their eyes locked, the rich brown of Rosalie's so opaque with heavy emotion they seemed almost black. The gaze was mesmerizing, penetrating in a way that bespoke an intimacy that even seemed to transcend even the desperate entwining of their corporal forms. Elise could feel connection between them flare to life, burning and brilliant in the unexpected rush of emotion in her mind and heart that left no use to denial that this was just desire of the flesh. "You," was Elise's fervent reply, "I only want you."

Rosalie unfastened and unlaced the various layers to Elise's petticoats, dress and corset, finally baring her form to the warm summer air. She soothed over the red marks left by the corset with her lips, trailing her tongue down between Elise's breasts. Elise mewled with pleasure as Rosalie's mouth fastened over one erect nipple, her sword-calloused fingers molding to the other.

At Elise's urging, Rosalie rolled over onto her back, Elise levering over her as her hands smoothed up Rosalie's still-clothed thighs. A strange thrill rang through her as Elise bared the vulnerable hollow to her throat, lightly dragging a nail down the muscles contracting as she swallowed hard. It was almost surreal for Elise to remember the quickening pulse beneath her fingers was the steady thrumming of royal blood, the vulnerability of the pose an illusion if the rumors of her potential as a Hero were true.

Rosalie moaned almost involuntarily at the simple intimacy of her touch, squirming as she felt an undeniable wetness grow between her legs, obediently parting her lips as Elise kissed her, tongue stroking against hers in a way that had Rosalie trembling in desire. Elise reached between them to unbuckle Rosalie's belt, undoing the button to the trousers and with Rosalie's help, worked the material down her hips.

Rosalie reversed their positions, kicking off her pants in the process, and met the arch of Elise's impatient hips with a rolling of her own. Elise clung to her lover's body, a lightly muscled frame and softly curved form, and pressed a kiss to her ear as she whispered, "Touch me, sweet. Please."

Rosalie swallowed nervously, uncertain in her inexperience but eager in her passion. Taking reference from the awkward, hesitant explorations they had shared before, she slid her hand between Elise's thighs to find the wetness of her arousal, parting the folds of the older girl's sex to slide her fingers inside. She found the swollen little nub nearby and Elise whimpered in encouragement, her hips arching into Rosalie's hand as the princess lowered her head to again take a breast into her mouth.

"Oh, Rosie, yes," Elise encouraged, her eyes fluttering closed as Rosalie rubbed and teased, soft sounds of pleasure spilling from her lips with every simulating touch. She blindly reached between them, fumbling to push down Rosalie's smallclothes and caress against the source of the princess' desire. Rosalie's head reared back as Elise stroked her, her breath ragged and broken, eyes full of dark intensity and raw ardor as they met Elise's and they rocked together in rhythm building toward something incredible.

"Finish for me, Lis. Let me feel you," The smooth, silken tones of Rosalie's voice were panted hotly against Elise's ear, nearly as arduous a caress as the feeling of the young woman inside her. And Elise found herself giving in to the soft-spoken order, her eyes involuntarily closing as she climaxed, a half-sobbed scream muffled as she bit down into Rosalie's shoulder.

The pain of the bite was only dully noted as her completion set off Rosalie's own, the princess biting down on her lip hard enough to bleed as she stifled her own sounds of satisfaction.

They lay together in a tangle of limbs and naked skin, languid and satiated to the point of nary wanting to move. Elise ran her fingers through Rosalie's sweat-damp hair, wrapping her arms the girl's shuddering body. Rosalie's heart was thundering, something Elise could feel against her own breast, the younger girl's breath reduced to ragged pants as she struggled to calm her body.

Elise reassuringly stroked her back, fingers playing over the smooth skin. Releasing a deep sigh that seemed to deflate her of the tension inside, Rosalie raised a head to gaze down at her lover, her eyes bright and lips pulled into a lopsided smile. She touched her hand to the side of Elise's face, tracing the curve of her cheek. "I adore you."

Rosalie felt Elise tense beneath her, the elder's face clouding. But still, she could not resist letting her hand rest over Rosalie's, their finger entwining. "I know you do, but you shouldn't. Not the way I know you mean."

Raising their joined hands, Rosalie brushed her lips against Elise's palm, wearing a sheepish smile. "I know. But I do. And I'm not ashamed to say so. I adore you. I love you. Even if nothing comes of it, I want you to know."

Elise kissed her gently, burying her face in the crook of Rosalie's neck as she told herself not to make declarations and promises she couldn't keep. Still, Rosalie's sweetness and honest affection was infective, and she found herself speaking despite herself. "I love you, too, sweet. I love you, too."


End file.
